Dollar Tree Haul

Every so often, I pop into Dollar Tree to see if they have any makeup goodies to be had (though mostly all I find are either ELF products that are already a dollar or no-name brands I'm not interested in). This time, however, I hit the jackpot and I've heard others in different states finding similar items so get thee to your local Dollar Tree!

I go through bronzer at a glacial pace since I'm so fair, but I couldn't resist picking up one when I saw this! Physicians Formula Healthy Wear!

More Physicians Formula, if you can believe it! I wonder if other stores got different stock, but there was only one colorway at mine. This is the Shimmer Strips in Smoky Hazel Eyes #1150. You can still find this packaging at places like drugstore.com from $8.71 - $9.59!

I also found some Milani, but there wasn't a whole lot of variety and some of the items had been tampered with. I managed to find two that were still safely secured, a Shadow Eyez in Royal Purple and a lip liner in Rose Pink (I hope this works well with my Revlon lipstick).

 

In the nail arena, I found two packs of the Sally Hansen Salon Effects in unusually bright cheery spring colors #520 Spring Fever and #560 Tie-Dye For (usually it's neon greens or seasonal collections only- but these will actually be season appropriate soon - before they have dried out - both of the colors are on drugstore.com though on sale from their normal $9, so there's hope they haven't completely dried out!)

And finally, I found 1 lone pack of Essie nail appliques, for $1 of course! This color is still on beauty.com for $10.25!!

Have you seen any awesome Dollar Tree sightings lately?

December Empties (2013)

Happy New Year everyone! I have to admit that I've been a bit of a slacker with the blog in 2013, but I hope to turn things around in 2014 though no promises, of course! This month came to end to several products...

Bath & Body Works Japanese Cherry Blossom Shower Gel - This is one of the small travel sizes (I like to change it up). Isn't it interesting how tastes change? A year ago, I wasn't really a fan of shower gels and now I can't get enough!
Philosophy Purity Made Simple - I use Purity to clean my makeup brushes. I know what you're thinking. That's a pricey product, but this enormous 12oz bottle came free with a Sephora order 2 years ago and I recently repurchased another one with my Birchbox points. Plus, I depend on this to keep my Beauty Blender spotless. It pretty much looks brand new and I owe it all to this!

Missha The Style Nail Polish Remover - I bought a ton of these when they were on clearance and I recently discovered a few leftovers in my stash. This is a nice nail polish remover and I'm trying to use up random brands so I can focus on Zoya Remove+ which is my favorite of them.

Tarte Pure Maracuja Oil - I featured this in my nighttime skincare routine and loved it until I ran out. This is a great oil and left my skin looking great. I'm not sure I'd repurchase right away as it's quite pricey. I'd recommend trying it if you haven't (I prefer this over the Josie Maran for face).
Caudalie Lip Conditioner - I've really come to love this lip balm. I even converted one of my friends at work. Even though it's pricey, I've found this balm very effective. I tend to purchase when Caudalie comes out with holiday sets as I can grab the balm and the hand moisturizer for a reduced price. Love.
Physician's Formula Healthy Wear Healthy Wear™ SPF 50 Powder Foundation - I still really like this, though I've since switched to another brand for the moment for a little change. Great, inexpensive powder, although - if you're dry, make sure you moisturize well prior to using!

So there you have my December empties. What did you use up in December?

Giveaway! Win a Physicians Formula Sexy Booster Sexy Glow Glossy Stain in Red

My review on the Physicians Formula Sexy Booster Sexy Glow Glossy Stains has gotten a lot of views since I posted it. So I figured since it's been awhile since I posted a giveaway and I managed to snag another one in Red today, I would give it away! Please note that I am giving away 1 Sexy Booster gloss in the shade Red (although the photo above is the one from the original post - these suckers are difficult to photograph!). One gloss, one winner, open worldwide (even with the recent postal hike) yadda yadda. Enter via the rafflecopter widget below! Good luck!

Review: Physicians Formula Sexy Booster Sexy Glow Glossy Stains

I wouldn't say I had the best luck with the YSL Glossy Stains, but I've been intrigued with lip products that have the ability to stain your lips while having a glossy finish till they wear off. I haven't yet had the chance to try the L'Oreal ones, but when I saw these at my local drugstore on sale, I quickly picked them up. Physicians Formula brought out a new Sexy Booster line (complete with blushes and bronzers), a spin on their Happy Booster line. The Physicians Formula version only comes in two colors, "Red" and "Hot Pink". Since I managed to get them for only $3 on sale and after coupons, I picked up both.

Physicians Formula has some of the cutest drugstore packaging ever. Just look at the shoe charms!

Aside from the cute ribbon and shoe charms, the packaging is a standard square tube and comes with a rounded doe foot applicator.

These have a similar formula to the YSL glossy stains; however, the formula differs between both of the colors. For example, the red one is much more translucent and more gel-like and doesn't seem to "dry down" which makes it retain some moisturizing properties. The hot pink is much more like the YSL Glossy Stains, as it seems to dry down on the lips and is more sticky and a bit less moisturizing. It is also a bit more pigmented than the red shade so I'm not sure if that contributes to the different textures (or if it's quality control issues).

The red is a more tomato-warmer red and the hot pink almost looks purple! These aren't colors I would wear on a daily basis, to the office for example; however, I think they are fun and they do actually stains the lips.

They definitely stained my hand in any case!

lip swatch - "Red"

lip swatch (poorly done, apologies) - "Hot Pink"

I took this picture after "Red" had been on my lips for about 5 minutes and I wiped it off. I definitely got some staining, though it was more evident on my bottom-more pigmented lip than the top one.

I've heard that these have some issues with wearing off unevenly like with what I experienced with the YSL version but for some reason, it bothers me less with these likely due to the price point! I don't know if Physicians Formula can really claim anything with pheromones. I don't know about your loves, but my husband won't kiss me while wearing anything red on my lips, pheromones or not.They definitely aren't "kiss proof" as claimed until you wipe the gloss part off.

Cute, but not amazing, but they were cheap enough to keep. ;)

Have you tried these yet? Thoughts?

July Empties

I'm finally getting up my July Empties post. I'm actually pleased with the products I finished in July. For a few months, it was very slow, partially because I decided to use jumbo sized products and partially because with the heat and allergy season, I haven't worn much makeup.

You can tell my picture taking skills are horrible when I don't have a flat surface to lean on.
Wella Professionals Moisturizing Treatment for Fine/Normal Hair - Obviously, I have nowhere near fine or normal hair, but this came in the June Glossybox so I thought I'd try it. Other than the scent (floral) and the fact I only got 2 uses out of the tub, I thought it did a decent job of moisturizing, though I can certainly see why this is recommended for normal hair types. Wouldn't repurchase.
Elizabeth Arden 8 Hour Cream tin - While I'm not a huge fan of the scent of the 8 hour cream range, it is amazing at repairing dry or irritated skin. This little tin seemed to last forever and I already have some back ups ready to go.
Physicians Formula Healthy Wear Powder Foundation in Translucent Light - Technically, there's still a small ring of powder around the outside of the pan but it is so hard to get to that I'm calling this compact done. This stuff is awesome and I have to thank Nouveau Cheap for turning me on to the stuff. When it was clearanced at CVS, I picked up a small back up army.
Sundari Neem and Coconut Hair Treatment Oil sachet - This I reviewed as part of the Bloom Ambassador's program. I'm seriously thinking of buying the full size (it's currently in my cart).

The Body Shop Vitamin C Cleansing Face Polish - Holy cow. This seriously lasted forever (it was featured in my last skincare routine from 2011). I found it a little drying and I'm not sure if the newly packaged range has a similar product but I will not be repurchasing!
DHC Make Off Sheet - These were seriously awesome and since there are 50 in a pack, they last a long time. I've now re-purposed the cute plastic case they came in to store some of the wipes I'm currently using since these babies never dried out. Even the last sheet was still moist. I'm not sure if they just use a ton of liquid in the package or if the cute case has anything to do with it. Either way, the next time I need something to get me to a certain dollar amount in a Dermstore order, these will certainly be making their way into my basket!
The Body Shop Born Lippy Stick in Strawberry - Once again, I am thrilled that The Body Shop came out with this range in stick form and I loved this! I found it moisturizing though not as moisturizing as some of my lip balms and it smells like strawberry bubble yum. Will definitely repurchase!
Yves Rocher Micellar Cleansing Water - This is a great refreshing Micellar water but find it less gentle than some others on the market. It actually works great as a toner or in the morning when I'm in a rush. I'm currently trying a different cleansing water right now. Not sure I'd repurchase this one as my sensitive skin doesn't always like it.

So that's what I used up in July. Definitely post below with what you've used up recently!

CVS Beauty Steals (Salma Hayek + Physicians Formula)

There are quite a few bloggers that post the weekly store sales, Nouveau Cheap being my favorite but I thought I'd write a quick post for the 2 deals this week that I think you should definitely consider purchasing.

The first is the Physicians Formula deal, buy $10 worth, get $7 in Extrabucks back. Clearly this deal is already awesome. There are quite a few products in the Physicians Formula line that are just over or at $10. Here's how to make this deal even more awesome.

If you are a member of the CVS Beauty Club and/or subscribe to their e-mails (and if you aren't and have a CVS near you, you should be - you get $5 Extrabucks for every $50 you spend on beauty automatically on top of the promotions and sales), you should have received a 25% coupon in your e-mail box on the 26th (check spam). Now, these percentage off coupons are tricky because they don't work on anything on sale. I long disregarded them as I rarely buy full priced items at CVS. However, these coupons work on non-reduced Extrabucks back deals. For instance, I bought a Physicians Formula pH Matchmaker pH Powered Blush (which the Muse reviewed favorably here) in Natural for just over $13. There was a sticker on it for $3 off. My 25% off coupon also applied to the original price.

So...
Full price $13.50
- 25% off brought it down to $10.13
- $3 off coupon bright it down to $7.13
And then I got $7 Extrabucks back making it 13 cents after EB!

Depending on what you buy, you could make out ahead but I really wanted to try one of these new Matchmaker pH line products!

The next deal is the Nuance by Salma Hayek line is buy $20 worth, get $10 in Extrabucks back. I used this as an excuse to pick up a couple more of the face wipes that I reviewed here. So I bought 2 packs of face wipes and a travel size hair cream to get me to $20 (actually $20.88 if you want to be precise), used my 25% coupon, that brought the total down to $15.66 and I received $10 in Extrabucks back! Making each pack just under $3 after EB.

Definitely work the sales to your advantage. Happy shopping!

Drugstore Sightings: Physicians Formula Youthful Wear

 *edit* The Youthful Wear powder also comes in a matte variety - don't feel as though they limited the range if you don't prefer dewy products - although to be fair, this is one of the most subtle highlighting powders, I've seen.

If you have the misfortune of being up when I normally get to work, you saw a photo of these products that I snapped with my iPhone and tweeted already. If not, I found a new display this morning, the new Physicians Formula Youthful Wear line. I picked up the foundation and the powder to test out. Physicians Formula is Buy1Get150% and at CVS it is a participating item in the buy $30 get a $10 CVS cash card, and of course you can see the "try me free" sticker above and the powder came with a $3 off sticker attached to it. New
products for close to free? I was all over that.

The line promises that you can look up to 10 years younger, instantly. This isn't necessarily something I am worried about at my age but products for more mature skin tend to be better for us drier gals so I was pretty excited. I picked up the Youthful Wear Cosmeceutical Youth-Boosting Foundation and Brush and the Youthful Wear Cosmeceutical Youth-Boosting Powder. There is also an under eye concealer/treatment in the line which I think I'll be picking up tomorrow. The packaging is super cute. Everything is a metallic purple and it reminds me of the other newer lines in the range. The foundation tube looks similar to the Cover Girl Natureluxe foundation. I hope the formulas aren't similar as the Cover Girl oxidized horribly on me!

I picked up the foundation in the shade Fair. It comes with a foundation brush which I won't likely use. It's a squeezey tube and holds the standard 1oz of product.

The swatch looks a bit yellow.

It seems to blend in ok, but you can probably see a slightly yellow cast.

Now the star of the show. The pressed powder promises an illuminating finish. Honestly, this appears to be a perfect highlighter! I wouldn't wear this all over. It is silky smooth, super soft and finely milled and blends like a dream though I haven't actually worn it for a full day.

It's just glowy enough to be a good highlight without being crazy glitter-bomb or chunky glitter like some of the MAC Mineralized Skin Finishes.

Super cute packaging as I mentioned.

Can you see the refined glow? Ignore the other swatches (the black stuff is remnants of the Laura Geller eye liners I swatched ages ago - that's 2 showers and multiple hand washings people). Anyway, this is the way my ideal highlighter would look cause it's very hard to mess up and doesn't accentuate fine lines or pores. Granted, the Physicians Formula line is not exactly inexpensive. If I remember correctly and I best find my receipt so I can submit my freebie for the foundation, the foundation was $15 and the powder $14 which is a bit ridiculous all things considered but with the BOGO50% deal, the CVS Cash Card and the freebie/$3 off stickers, it's brings the price down considerably.

As I mentioned I haven't really worn these products but I'll keep you updated. My guess is I'm not going to be a fan of the foundation as it's loaded with silicones. The powder on the other hand, seems perfect.

Have you spotted these yet? It's a bit disturbing how excited I get when I spot new drugstore products!

Review: Physician's Formula Healthy Wear Healthy Wear™ SPF 50 Powder Foundation

Nouveau Cheap has been professing her love for this powder and has bought quite a few of these during the CVS semi-annual beauty sale. For $3.99 a pop, why not? She has light-medium toned skin and it's very oily. I, on the other hand, have very fair dry skin so I thought I'd share my thoughts on it while you may still be able to get your hands on it.

Translucent Light is a very good match for my skin (~NW10 or thereabouts). It does a good job of covering redness and evens out my skin tone. It's not amazing at acne/breakout coverage and can tend to collect on dry patches. That being said, I've found this manages to stay less flaky and dry and patchy throughout the day then other powder foundations that I've used (it beats MAC Studio Fix Powder and Bare Escentuals Regular by far). It definitely looks the most natural and I tend to get "your skin looks great" with this rather than "oh you're wearing makeup". It's easy to reapply and blends out well. I've found the little sponge included is actually very nice at applying the product though obviously you can only use it so much before it has to be tossed or carefully cleansed.

Basically, I want to let everyone know that's been curious that this is not just for those with oily skin. It works very well on my dry skin and lasts during the day with minimal flaky or patchiness. It's definitely worth picking up with the discount and let's just say I'm slowly collecting enough to rival Ms. G's little backup collection. For under $4 with the 75% off sale, it simply can't be beat.

PS The bronzer I originally posted about here is also very nice and the Light one is the perfect all over bronzing color for us pale ladies.

In other news, sorry for the lack of pictures. I am having technical (ie computer) difficulties and one day sometime in the near future (hopefully), a new machine will be on its way to me!

New Drugstore Products

I stopped by a Rite Aid I never go to. The parking lot was nearly empty and the beauty section was huge! Hardly anything was missing from the displays and I got a few shots of some new (to me) products. Now, it goes without saying the fabulous Nouveau Cheap has probably already showcased all of these products on her wonderful blog, but I was so excited to see new products, that I snapped some photos. Sorry for any fuzziness, I have the worlds most shakiest hands.

NYC has jumped on the lipstain marker bandwagon! The back row is all lipstain markers, "16 hour kissable color" and in the front are lipglosses. Quite a nice color range. I didn't pick them up to try but the markers are $4.99 and the lipglosses in front are $2.99. There's a little disclaimer at the bottom saying that the 16 hour claim is only for the lipstain markers. I thought that was kind of funny.

Neutrogena Healthy Skin Compact SPF 55, the amount of SPF in this product is kind of mind blowing for a cream foundation (and Neutrogena doesn't let you forget it since they say, "most powerful level of UVA-UVB protection available in a compact". I've never seen something like this at a place like Sephora, let alone the drugstore! Not the greatest shade selection but then again Neutrogena tends to cater towards light to medium skintones. This retails for $13.99. Promises lightweight coverage and a non greasy formula, I guess it's cream to powder then? Contains the same kind of SPF (helioplex) as their liquidy sunscreen I reviewed here.

Physicians Formula has come out out with quite a few new products (new cream liners in metallic shades which Olivia - who by the way is one of my favorite people ever - reviewed here) and a host of other things. The thing that my eye gravitated to was the cutesy Valentine's Day powder, called Happy Booster. Everyone say Awwwwww! Obviously it makes you glow like you are in a love. The price kills that blissful moment as the powder retails for $13.95 but it is so pretty and it has a $3 coupon on it and PF should go on sale before these sell out.

And now we have more and more brands making Minx manicure dupes...

Sally Hansen for $9.79 has an impressive array of colors & patterns, but for nearly $10 you may as well get the ones from Sephora are only $15.

And then Broadway nails has come out with four different faux minx sets except these are only $5.49 and there's a $1 sticker on the display.

Do any of these new things catch your eye? I think I'm definitely going to try the new NYC lipstain markers when NYC goes on sale.

Also at Rite Aid, I saw little signs indicating some cosmetic brands gave you $20 in rebates if you were to spend $100. I'm going to look into this further as Rite Aid had the same deal last year with L'Oreal. It would be super amazing if you could combine brands towards the $100.

Amazing Rite Aid Deal

So, here's a departure from the usual sale deals that I post, Rite Aid (not CVS this time, aren't you non-CVS-ers happy? I know you are!). So even though the Physician's Formula deal is kind of weird this week, buy 1 get 1 free but only bronzers, there is an awesome deal if you manage to snag the special packaging. You see, there is a special display of bronzers all of which have $5 off stickers on them and if you buy 2 with these special stickers you can get Physicians Formula bronzers for a measly $2 each ($10 off plus the BOGO)! Now, even if you can't find ones with the $5 off stickers there are still some $3 off stickers and "get this free with mail in rebate" tags which are also awesome. And as a last resort there are $1 off coupons in the paper.

Goest Thee To The CVS! Dost Thou Want to Save? Then Go!

And I shall wait all day... wait, what?

Ok, I'm sure those of you that don't live near a CVS are getting tired of these posts, but obviously if I talk all Renaissance-like, I'll be back in your good graces. Right?

So CVS is having an Extra Bucks related sale on the new Physician's Formula Healthy Wear and ever since Nouveau Cheap reviewed it, I've been waiting for a sale to get my hands on it! Well, even though I was without the $1 off coupon that I nabbed in the paper, I went for it because I didn't want these to sell out. Ok, so first of all, the new Healthy Wear foundations and bronzers are $14.99 and this week you receive $7 Extra Bucks with the purchase. So that's pretty decent by itself, but then wait.

What did I spy with my little eyes?

There were 2 in this pack! Both the foundation and the bronzer which usually retails individually for $14.99! These were in the normal display, which is somewhat odd because generally these special 2-1 usually get a temporary display. I saw a few translucent light/light duos (the one I bought since I'm pasty) and a few translucent medium/medium duos at my CVS but of course stock varies from store to store.

Only one side of the package will show, but you can see on the top right that it says "BONUS - with purchase of foundation" which doesn't really speak "omg buy 1 get 1 free" to me but maybe that's good for us beauty lovers since most people won't notice. I also noticed that my CVS did not put up the sign that these were on an Extra Bucks sale this week so they were more or less fully stocked (of course varies by store).

I haven't tried it yet but I love the packaging. It's adorable and you can't beat $3 or so a piece for these after the Extra Bucks. And of course I used Extra Bucks to pay for them in the first place.

When I stacked them like this, I was reminded of french macaroons which are Nouveau Cheap's favorite (what? me? stalker?).

The bronzer actually looks a little light (wow, I just said that?) but we'll see.

Underneath the compacts. In the foundation, it's a sponge and in the bronzer it's a little brush. Love the pop of pink! So cute.


So go! And pick up some clearance Easter candy while you're at it.

Review: Physicians Formula Organic Wear Eyeliner

I've always been a bit curious regarding the Physicians Formula (PF) Organic line but never wanted to fork over the cash for some of the products. But that all changed when they went on clearance (wow, I sound so cheap). The fact that the products are free of harsh chemicals, parabens and synthetic preservates sounded very appealing since I have extremely sensitive skin (and eyes for that matter).

The Organic Wear eyeliners are usually around $8 though with the 75% off and a $2 off coupon I didn't pay anything. They come in 3 colors: Black Night, Black Woods and Black Olive. I'm reviewing the Black Night version, a deep matte black.

I must say for being an eco-friendly line, they sure do use a whole lot of packaging for these little pencils. I understand it helps with possible tampering but did they really need the huge box? Anyway, back to the review.

 

  

I'm not sure I had any expectations for this product. The PF line seems to have a lot of hit or misses and I seldomly have good luck with drugstore line pencils (though I do like the 24/7 knockoffs from L'Oreal/HIP). I went ahead and swatched the pencils on my skin and then performed the smudge test.

Surprisingly enough the pencil is well pigmented. The first swatch is me drawing and filling in the lines with the product. The second is a rather swift stroke down my hand and the third is drawing a bit more slowly with slightly more force but nothing extreme. The pencil is creamy and does not feel very waxy.

 

After the swatch test any good thoughts I had about these pencils quickly dissolved (haha get it?). Smear city. This was 2 or 3 swipes back and forth. However, after wiping the pencil away completely, I noticed something.

 

There was still pencil left on my hand which led me to believe that these would be excellent water line pencils. Creamy so they don't irritate during application, check. Some remains after "removal", check. Non irritating ingredients perfect for sensitive eyes like mine, check. 

And I even took a picture of my eyes after having this on my waterline for an hour (I know that's not terribly long but I'll give another update before I go to bed). Now granted, I'm not wearing any makeup other than the liner so be nice, please (and I need to do my brows badly). But it is very dark and really a great product for the waterline. I doubt it would perform on the upper lid due to the creamy texture.

So am I glad I picked this up? Actually, yes. Even though it's limited in what you can use it for, it's going to prove to be a useful product for me and for even $2 without the coupon on sale, it's worthy of a pick up.

Here is the ingredient list from the PF website (I apologize for the caps - I didn't do that):

INGREDIENTS: SIMMONDSIA CHINENSIS (JOJOBA) SEED OIL *, BEESWAX *, BIS-DIGLYCERYL POLYACYLADIPATE -2, CAPRYLIC / CAPRIC TRIGLYCERIDE, COPERNICIA CERIFERA (CARNAUBA) WAX*, SQUALANE, MICA, OLEA EUROPAEA (OLIVE) FRUIT OIL *, GLYCINE SOJA (SOYBEAN) OIL *, TOCOPHEROL, MAY CONTAIN: IRON OXIDES, TITANIUM DIOXIDE, FERRIC AMMONIUM FERROCYANIDE. *PRODUCED FROM ORGANIC FARMING.